Drought conditions did not change much if at all during the month of November. Most areas remained in either severe drought (D2) or extreme drought (D3).
Every event with a place to put it; 22 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ICT wrote it up.
Drought conditions did not change much if at all during the month of November. Most areas remained in either severe drought (D2) or extreme drought (D3).
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 9:44 PM CST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1044 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 ...Updated Aviation Discussion... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 244 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 * Cold well below normal temperatures for this evening (Halloween). * A warming trend for Thursday into the weekend. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 244 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 A strong cold front surged south across the area earlier today, which has led to nearly steady temperatures in the lower 30s, with gusty NW-N winds of 10 to 15 mph. Expect a very brisk evening across the area, with evening temperatures being some of the coldest Halloween temperatures in 6 years (2017) with most locations seeing evening temperatures falling below freezing by sunset, with wind chills in teens to lower 20s. Canadian surface high pressure will quickly shift southeast of Kansas tonight with south winds returning and increasing on Wednesday. Temperatures will continue to warm heading into Thursday as downslope component leads to nice warm advection across the area. Low amplitude upper ridging will migrate eastward over the central plains on Friday with temperatures climbing back above normal. Expect some breezy conditions for Fri afternoon as a weak surface trough moves into NW KS, with the pressure gradient tightening over most of the forecast area. Ketcham .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Tuesday) Issued at 244 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 Both the GFS and ECMWF show a quick hitting shortwave will move across the northern plains on Sat, which will lead to a weak surface trough moving across northern KS for Sat afternoon. Moisture is rather limited as this system moves across the area, which may only lead a few sprinkles along the I-70 corridor. Temperatures will climb slightly above normal for Sunday, as good downslope flow sets up across most of the forecast area. Medium range models are suggesting another upper trough will move into the plains either late Sun night or early on Monday. This system has better upper dynamics to work with and more moisture to work with which could generate a rain chance for most of eastern Kansas. Still some uncertainty on this chance, as some timing issues get worked out. This looks like the only rainfall chance for the area over the next 7 days. Ketcham && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Wednesday night) Issued at 1041 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 VFR conditions are expected over the next 24 hours. Winds will remain light through the overnight and early morning hours. However, after sunrise on Wednesday, winds will shift to out of the south and increase through the late morning hours. After 18Z, most locations should be experience southerly winds around 15 knots gusting to 25 or 30 knots at times. After sunset, winds will diminish to around 10 knots across the region. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 244 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 The combination of warmer temperatures and gusty south winds could elevate the grassland fire risk for Friday afternoon into the very high grassland category. Ketcham && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Wichita-KICT 23 52 32 59 / 0 0 0 0 Hutchinson 22 55 30 60 / 0 0 0 0 Newton 23 52 32 58 / 0 0 0 0 ElDorado 21 50 33 57 / 0 0 0 0 Winfield-KWLD 21 53 32 60 / 0 0 0 0 Russell 23 60 29 63 / 0 0 0 0 Great Bend 23 59 30 63 / 0 0 0 0 Salina 23 56 32 62 / 0 0 0 0 McPherson 21 55 30 60 / 0 0 0 0 Coffeyville 19 49 30 59 / 0 0 0 0 Chanute 20 49 32 57 / 0 0 0 0 Iola 19 48 31 57 / 0 0 0 0 Parsons-KPPF 19 49 31 58 / 0 0 0 0 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...Ketcham LONG TERM...Ketcham AVIATION...JC FIRE WEATHER...Ketcham
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS Issued by National Weather Service Topeka KS 307 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-012015- Russell-Lincoln-Barton-Ellsworth-Saline-Rice-McPherson-Marion-Chase- Reno-Harvey-Butler-Greenwood-Woodson-Allen-Kingman-Sedgwick-Harper- Sumner-Cowley-Elk-Wilson-Neosho-Chautauqua-Montgomery-Labette- 307 PM CDT Tue Oct 31 2023 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday The combination of warmer temperatures and gusty south winds could elevate the grassland fire risk for Friday afternoon into the very high category. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated tonight. && For a graphical version of this information, see our webpage at: https://weather.gov/crh/ghwo?sid=ict Ketcham
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
No improvement in drought conditions with the far northwest comer of the county remaining in severe drought (D2).
No improvement to drought conditions for November. All parts of the county remained in severe drought (D2) with the exception of the far southeast portions of the county which remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2) with the exception of the northwest portions of the county which remained in moderate drought (D1).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2) with the far northwestern corner of the county remaining in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2) and the far eastern corner of the county remaining in moderate drought (D1).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. Eastern area remained in severe drought (D2) and the western half remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas but the northeastern portions of the county remained in severe drought (D2). The northeastern portion of the county remained in moderate drought (D1).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2).
There was no improvement in drought conditions for November. The central portions of the county remained in severe drought (D2) and the western areas of the county remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions for November. The central areas of the county remained in severe drought (D2) and the north and northwest areas of the county remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in extreme drought (D3).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in extreme drought (D3) with the exception of the north central areas of the county which remained in severe drought (D2).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. All areas remained in severe drought (D2).
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. Only the northeast areas of the county remained in severe drought (D2). All other areas were below this level.
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. Only the southwest areas of the county remained in severe drought (D2). All other areas were below this level and did not change.
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. Only the northern areas of the county remained in severe drought (D2). All other areas were below this level and did not change.
There was no improvement to drought conditions in the county. Only the eastern areas of the county remained in severe drought (D2). All other areas were below this level and did not change.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, November 2023
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1145734, 1145735, 1145736, 1145737, 1145738, 1145739, 1145740, 1145741, 1145742, 1145743, 1145744, 1145745, 1145746, 1145747, 1145748, 1145749, 1145750, 1145751, 1145752, 1145753, 1145754, 1145755.